Retarded Creativity

1/7/2009

There’s this prevailing sense of dread these days, totally work related. I was sitting in the only functioning classroom of my middle school today (the other classrooms burned down during New Years. It was an accident, a story for another time.) noting the muscles in my neck and shoulders twist with tension upon the realization that yet again no students were showing up for my study skills club. This after a potential, although not yet confirmed, second failed attempt to organize a volunteer soccer tournament in my region, the impending pipedream of actually seeing my fellow villagers come through for me on their promised Moringa training sessions, and lest I forget I may have offended my Primary School Director who is already covertly uninterested in helping or even supporting my work. I could go into other damaged relationships in my life, as there seem to be many of late, but I will spare you.

I suppose I was fortunate enough to have my girls show up for the Girls Club today. But unfortunately, as the saying goes: when it rains, it pours. Two full sessions of discussion finished, examples displayed and explained, handouts distributed, instructions communicated and an enthusiastic response received – would you say I’d covered most of my bases with the students? Their task was simple enough, or so I assumed, silly me, write their own fairy tale. We are in our Creative Writing sessions and I researched and typed up all kinds of information – definitions and explanations of basic fairy tale concepts as basic as what is “fiction” and “imagination”. I brought in books from the library with pictures! They even shared an example with me of a tale from their culture. So the assigned exercise for this section was to go home with their handouts and notes and examples fresh in their mind and write their own tale of magical characters and harrowing adventures.

If ever you wanted an example of how creatively challenged these kids are, today’s results should be enlightening. The girls presented their stories today by standing in front and reading aloud. Out of 22 girls present, four or five didn’t do the assignment which was fine as it was voluntary, only about four girls wrote original tales and the rest copied out of two books I saw floating around the classroom prior to the session. There were even a few girls that had copied the same story. I believe this sort of thing is called plagiarism and looked down upon. When the same story first appeared twice, I told them the only person they were hurting was themselves. There was no need to cheat since the club is for fun; there are no grades and no exams. About half way through the presentations, I saw the books and realized what had happened much to my disappointment. I started second guessing what I had done. Was I not clear on the exercise? What could I have done differently? At the end of the presentations, I confronted them. I told them I wasn’t angry; I was sad because this was an opportunity to share a piece of themselves with us, a gift of their spirit, to show us how special and unique they are. I reiterated what I said before on how copying does nothing for them. It doesn’t exercise their mind or imagination, and therefore, they make no progress, no improvement. I also emphasized the fact that the club is for them and if something is boring or uninteresting, they can tell me and I will make modifications. I’m flexible; I’m here for them and that the club is totally voluntary.

When I saw their faces light up when I showed them the examples I had brought from the library, I thought, “ok, they’re into it.” Today’s meeting once again reinforces, for me, how creative thought and critical thinking and risk taking are simply not supported here in the way they are chez moi. My next session is on Autobiographies. Let’s hope they don’t plagiarize their own lives.

Update as of 1/25/2009: The Soccer Tournament was canceled again and will not be rescheduled, at least, not by me. I couldn’t find enough players. The Moringa training sessions are going a little rough, but they’re coming along. I usually end up taking over at some point during the presentations. The real test will be the second training in May/June.